ASPIRANTS. Antique Provincial Election Supervisor Salud Milagros Villanueva (right) oversees the filing of Certificates of Candidacy (COCs) for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections in Tobias Fornier, Antique on Tuesday . Villanueva said Wednesday (Aug. 30, 2023) 3,665 aspirants have filed their COC as of Aug. 29. (PNA photo courtesy of Comelec Antique)
SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique – Heavy rains experienced in Antique in the past days failed to stop the over 3,000 aspirants of the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) from filing their Certificates of Candidates (COCs).
Antique Provincial Election Supervisor Salud Milagros Villanueva said in the past two days, a total of 3,665 aspirants have filed their COCs, consisting of 280 candidates for punong barangay (barangay captain), 2,026 for Sangguniang Barangay (barangay councilor), 224 for Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) chairperson and 1,135 for SK members in the 18 towns of the province.
“Aspirants come as early as 1 a.m. on Wednesday,” Villanueva said in an interview on Wednesday.
She added an unprecedented number of aspirants came to file their COCs on Aug. 28, so other applicants made sure to be early in the succeeding days.
In turn, poll personnel made sure to cater to them even if office time was supposed to end at 5 p.m.
Liga ng Barangay (LnB) Antique chapter president Pamela Azucena noticed more aspirants in this year’s elections compared to the previous BSKE.
“The LnB had also been encouraging the youth during our symposia to take on leadership in their communities. That must be the reason why there are more aspirants now,” said Azucena, who is running for her third term as village chief of Barangay Idio in Sebaste town.
She appealed to BSKE aspirants to maintain the peaceful and orderly conduct of the election this coming October.
“Let us cooperate with the Comelec to ensure that we will have a fair, peaceful, and orderly election,” Azucena said.
Antique has 404,233 voters for barangay elections and 147,235 registered voters for the Sangguniang Kabataan from its 590 barangays. (PNA)
